1. “Examining the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11).
Many can testify that the best way to read the Bible is to read it daily. Since the Bible is closely related to our living and actions, we need it in every area of our life. Therefore, we should read the Bible daily. Since the Bible is food for our spiritual life, we must receive spiritual nourishment from it daily. We need physical nourishment every day, and we similarly need spiritual nourishment every day. Just as we need to eat physical food every day, we need to read the Bible every day. We are healthy when we eat food every day, and we are healthy when we read the Bible every day. We should not eat food one day and then fast for three days. Likewise, we should not read the Bible in fits and starts. Just as our food should be apportioned to us throughout the day, our Bible reading should be apportioned in a measured and daily way. We should not receive too much or too little, reading too much one day and very little the next.
Furthermore, eating at specific times is the most healthy way to eat. Similarly, we should set aside specific times to read the Bible every day. Just as it is best for our body to eat a specific amount of food at specific times every day, it is best for our spirit to read a specific amount of the Bible at specific times every day. May we practice this by the Lord’s grace.
1. “I anticipated the dawn... / I hoped in Your words. / My eyes anticipated the night watches, / That I might muse” (Psa. 119:147-148; see also Exo. 16:21; Isa. 50:4).
The morning is the best time to read the Bible. Many who read the Bible acknowledge this. It is best to read the Bible in the morning when our heart has just awakened, our spirit is clean and quiet, and there is no noise, people, or events to disturb or worry us. If we read the Bible at a time other than the morning, it will be difficult to avoid disturbing noises and the interruptions of people or events and to read the Bible in peace. This makes it difficult to gain much benefit from reading the Bible. The children of Israel gathered the manna that they needed in the wilderness every day in the morning; if they waited until the sun came up, the manna melted away. Indeed, in order to gather the manna that we need for our spirit from the Bible, we must get up early every morning. If we are too late, it will melt away during the affairs of the day. Therefore, the psalmists anticipated the morning in order to hope in God’s word. They anticipated the night watches to muse on God’s word. The prophet Isaiah also listened to the Lord’s word before God every morning. Should we not also get up early every morning to read the Bible, hope in God’s word, muse on God’s word, and listen to and receive God’s word? If we are lazy and love our beds in the morning, we will not be able to gather the manna that we need for the day from the Bible. We will miss a great blessing for the day. No one who loves his bed in the morning can love the Bible. No one who is lazy in the morning can read the Bible. If we do not hate our bed and get up early in the morning, we will not be able to gather the manna of God’s word from the Bible in the morning. Therefore, we must awaken early in the morning. Once we are awake, we must get up and get out of our bed; we should not linger in our bed. We must have the heart to do this and ask God to give us the grace.
Reading the Bible in the morning not only benefits us spiritually, but it is also very useful in dealing with the things that we encounter every day. If we come to the Lord’s Word and read the Bible in the morning, it will supply us to meet our needs throughout the day. If we do not come to the Word, we will lack the power to deal with things or to overcome the temptations of the day. Therefore, we must read the Bible in the morning. We must seek and gain the Lord’s word in the morning. Alas, many brothers and sisters do not do this. That truly is a pitiful situation. They do not know how much they have lost. May the Lord have mercy.
1. “Open my eyes that I may behold / Wondrous things” (Psa. 119:18; see also Luke 24:45).
We should not depend merely on our own intellect to read the Bible. We must ask the Lord to open our mind so that we might understand the truth in the Word and behold wondrous things. If we want to understand and know the Bible, we need an opened mind and opened eyes. Only the Lord can open our mind and eyes; therefore, we must ask the Lord.